Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Pete Agostino’s name. Also, County Council members Andy Rutten and Randall Figg voted with Democrats to select Bryan Tanner as council president for 2026, but they did not form a coalition government with Democrats as Schaetzle did in 2025. Further, because of an editing error, a previous correction erroneously said Schaetzle caucused with Democrats rather than formed a coalition. The Tribune regrets the errors.
SOUTH BEND — Lawyers volleyed arguments at each other and even questioned Election Clerk Kim Riskovich about her filing conduct as the St. Joseph County Election Board voted Wednesday, Feb. 25 to remove two candidates from the primary election ballot but allowed a third challenged candidate to remain.
The board voted to allow St. Joseph County Council member Dan Schaetzle to remain on the ballot despite two individuals challenging his candidacy. County Council member Amy Drake will not be allowed to run for state convention delegate, and Tim Lindewald was removed from the Walkerton Town Council race.
Tim Lindewald vs Jackie Horvath
St. Joseph County Republican Party Chair Jackie Horvath challenged Republican Tim Lindewald’s filing for Walkerton Town Council. The last two primary elections Lindewald voted in, he voted in the Democratic primary. The last two Indiana primary elections he voted in were 2002 and 2003.
Indiana law says a candidate must have voted within the party they are running for in the last two Indiana Primary elections they voted in, or run with the permission of the party chair. This does not mean the candidate had to vote in two primary elections consecutively.
“The reason I am running for city council is that I had a bunch of city Walkerton fellows and residents come to me and asked me to run because I’ve been in the utilities for 35 years plus,” Lindewald said.
“This is all new to me, I’ve been on the utility side more than the political side so I’m just giving it a shot,” Lindewald said.
The board upheld Horvath’s challenge. Tim Lindewald will not be on the primary ballot for the Walkerton Town Council.
There are now three Republicans running for Walkerton Town Council that will be on the primary ballot in May: Gene Reese, Robert Payne and Rick Coffman.
Amy Drake vs Michael Johnson
St. Joseph County resident Michael Johnson challenged Republican Amy Drake’s candidacy for GOP Republican State Convention delegate as she filed within the incorrect district.
Drake filed in district five but she lives in district one.
Delegate districts “had been the same for several decades and they just recently changed right before filing period and we went from three districts with at-large candidates to 12 districts,” Drake said. “There was a lot of confusion when this first occurred for people to figure out which districts there were in because this was not typical.
“So, a lot of us were not familiar, not having run in these delegate districts before,” Drake said.
Drake’s lawyer, James Masters, questioned Election Clerk Kim Riskovich regarding her handing of other candidates’ filings. According to Riskovich, she has amended filings based on the individual candidates’ request or through noticing an error and addressing the error with the candidate.
“If I see something, I will bring it to their attention, but it is not my duty to critique their filings,” Riskovich said.
The board voted to uphold Johnson’s challenge and Drake will not be allowed to run for GOP Republican State Convention delegate.
Her candidacy to retain her seat on the St. Joseph County Council was not challenged, and she will be on the primary ballot running against Republican Matthew Clayton.
Jackie Horvath vs Dan Schaetzle & Griffin Nate vs Dan Schaetzle
Horvath and Griffin Nate, communications director for Congressman Rudy Yakym, both filed to challenge Schaetzle after the Indiana Republican Party deemed him a “Republican not in good standing.”
This comes after the state Republican Party had censured Schaetzle in 2025 for forming a coalition with Democrats. This siding allowed him to become the County Council president in a 5-4 vote that went against the Republican Party wishes and allowed two other Democrats on the council to secure president pro-tempore and vice president pro-tempore, according to previous Tribune reporting.
Earlier this year, Republican council members Andy Rutten and Randall Figg similarly voted with Democrats, electing Democrat Bryan Tanner president by a 6-3 vote.
Lawyers representing Horvath and Nate argued a candidate running as a Republican must be a qualified primary Republican (voted Republican in two primaries) and be in good standing with the Republican Party. State law requires the party chair’s permission to run in the primary only if the candidate hasn’t voted in that party’s primary the last two times they’ve voted.
Schaetzle’s attorney, Pete Agostino, argued Republicans will have to change state law to keep Schaetzle from running.
“We have a Republican house; we have a Republican senate and a Republican governor,” Agostino said. “If they don’t like the way the law reads and they want the Republican Party to have as a matter of law, the sole right to determine who affiliates with them for the purposed of primary elections … change the law.”
The board voted to deny the challenge and Schaetzle will remain on the primary ballot seeking to retain his seat, challenged by Republican James O’Brien for District C.
Attorney Sean Surrisi said after the vote that his client, Griffin Nate, intends to appeal the decision and will seek a temporary restraining order as a preliminary injunction.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Election board allows Schaetzle to stay on ballot, drops two others
Reporting by Juliane Balog , South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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